I wasn't suggesting you come to California, buy a car here and drive it home. I was merely showing you that there are better cars available for similar asking prices to the car you are looking at.

 

Years ago I bought an XJS. Flew into Sacramento with a co-driver, got the car, topped off the tank and immediately high-tailed it 750 miles back to Washington. Blasted over to the coast...great XJS driving roads, by the way.... to avoid a snow storm in the Siskiyou Mountains.

Had a blast and, knock wood, the car never skipped a beat. It was a great and very fast 24 hours !

Cheers
DDD

 

the questions you might want to consider are not so much what needs to be repaired, but how much money are you wiling put into its restoration? Suggest you make yourself a cost worksheet, then weigh the arrived total against your love of the vehicle.
The 85 S3 has a lot of untold secrets, mainly AGE ! lol Parts may not be readily available. I have a parts jag and save much in the parts department. I got lucky with my barn find. It required very little maintenance , yeah the regular stuff lol
attend to the bubbles. lol


john

 

Yup, I used to delight in spread sheet analysis. Useful in my business and personal life. I began with Lotus 123.


My lump project had one for a time. Ugh, ditched it. Resembled the stat budget, smoke and mirrors.


My ancient Dell AXIM pocket PC has a simple version of MS Works.
It's SS is quite versatile. Kinda fun....


Libre is on this machine. I do a lot there. Including impressing my Doc with a "vital signs" tabulation.


I do my budget analysis there as well. Helpful to see where the $'s go. And then seek a way to slow their exit. Comcast in lie of ATT did that. Not without a few quirks though!!!


Aids in tabulating shopping for insurance. Co vs co.
I've found little difference over the past years...


Carl

 

I was about to comment on this very subject. In my opinion, unless you're willing to put up with endless idiosyncrasies, proven unreliability, and thus the need to spend countless hours on fault tracing and fixing, I would steer clear of even the S-III XJ-6.

Maybe it's just me, but I can't stand machines that are unreliable (including being awash in leaking fluids) despite fastidiousness in predictive and preventive maintenance.

I have only bought three cars in my lifetime and still have all three. Two are Dodges, a 1970 and a 2000. Both exceed my expectations, considering the design, engineering, and manufacturing of their era.

The third, my 1987 XJ-6 VDP is the exact opposite. I bought it for its style, comfort, and handling. Plus the press at the time were touting it as the first truly reliable Jaguar. Not so, in my opinion.

I don't mind doing the predictive and preventive maintenance on a machine, unless it leads no where, as is with my Jaguar. I can't stand having the expectation that something is bound to break at any time and at any place. My latest: Crawling under the thing to replace a leaking, failing steering rack.

Maybe this is just a rant of frustration, but hope you will consider the time and effort required to keep these XJ-6's running before you buy one.

I still marvel at the beauty of the XJ-6, but would never had bought it, knowing now what I didn't then.

 

Re: S 111

I think a lot of current ( and legions of past ) owners feel the same way, but they manage to make excuses for the car to justify its ownership..( yeah,.. it needs a few little things..) ( hah! ) I also agree that the car has outstanding styling, that is still very attractive even compared to a lot of today's new cars (have you noticed the front end styling on some of the luxury Japanese imports ) The wood and leather interior is still very old world - Not a lot of plastic snap on interior panels etc.. no panorama of flashing lights (in fact probably too little light when it comes to dash lights - another annoying feature that needs to be addressed - original lighting exchanged for LEDs) otherwise a warm and inviting interior..

Mechanics who are familiar with the car are as rare as hen's teeth so you tend to stay close to home within range of a 100 dollar towing bill.

So what to do? bitch about it and do the endless repairs?, sell the car? or substitute better parts in place of the original parts?
Some parts are good, some not so much. Before I replaced a lot of the parts,...I never had felt the car was reliable enough to be taken on a cross country trip. Feeling that it would end up in some distant repair shop a 1000 miles away and eventually a used car lot in some little town in the middle of nowhere or because of repair costs, destined for the crusher for salvage value.
I like mine in spite of its penchant for surprises requiring more $$$ for new repairs.
In my case the car (has largely ) been tamed,.. but it took serious surgery, so it is no longer original in all respects. But it is more dependable / reliable. Took a lot of time and effort to make me feel I had reached that level.
Would I sell it? No ! ... got too much time, labor and money into it and its a better car now than it was, but still requires manageable maintenance.
Ok if you are not stuck on originality.

 

Experiences, and thus, opinions, vary.

I used a Series III XJ6 as a daily driver for *many years* and was never on the back of a tow truck. Never. Yes, I was fussy about servicing and kept an eye on things. And, yes, there were some Jag specific quirks that I tended to....but these are all well known by now and fall into the "do it once, do it right, forget about for the next ten years" category. Last I heard, several years ago, it was at 171k miles with original engine and trans and the owner had just finished a 5000 mile vacation without a single problem.

I can also say the same for my V12 XJS. Well, almost. I did end up on a flat bed once....but it was purely my fault. I left a wiring connector loose while doing some other work. But for years it carried me on numerous 500-800 miles road trips without skipping a beat. But, yes, there were XJS quirks that I had to stay on top of. They're all well known so I just went thru and addressed them all....and was rewarded with a reliable XJS that I could drive in confidence.

With these old Jags the repairs can indeed seem 'endless' if you pick away at them ala carte. That's misery. Buy the car, fix what needs fixing, fix the known quirks, and then enjoy the car. For just one example: spend a day cleaning ALL ground points on the car. You have just pre-emptively solved 90% of the much-ballyhooed "Prince of Darkness" problems. Repeat the process in 20 years. If you consider such effort to be unbearable then an old Jag isn't for you...and possibly any other 25-30 year old car as well. And, yes, if you can't do the work yourself and can't afford retail labor rates....then and old Jag is not the car for you....and possibly any other 25-30 year old car.

Old cars require attention, plain and simple. My 1995 Honda is at the point where I'm having to spend quite a bit of time repairing things. Head gasket, electrical, suspension, etc. My 2005 Honda (now 150k miles) is beyond the "drive it and forget it point"..... it's needs several repairs (if I can pry it out of my daughter's hands long enough!) . And, shoot, even it needed a head gasket, engine mounts, water pump, and several other repairs at just 100k miles. It's been on the back of a tow truck three times in the last 100k miles.

I think I can say the same for every car I've owned. Eventually they need repairs. My 1994 Chev Suburban went thru 3 transmissions, 2 sets of intake gaskets, a heater core, and at least two, maybe three, alternators in 175k miles. Plus the typical water pump, master cylinder, etc...the stuff that happens on any car.

I can't imagine anyone buying a 20-25-30 year old car, especially a Jag, Mercedes, BMW, etc....with the expectation of trouble free ownership. It isn't rational, IMHO.

IMHO, this isn't making excuses. It's just being realistic

Cheers
DD

 

100% CORRECT Doug.
For the the past 1 1/2 years I have been fixing and servicing my 1985 Jaguar XJ6 getting all the help I need via this forum. Besides the Jaguar loving to mark the spots where I have parked (I lost about 1/2 of a quart of oil over a 6 month period) I have everything working on the car and I have taken it on a few trips with no problem at all. I have done 400 mile round trips with the car about 8 times and recently did a round trip to the Florida Keys all with absolutely no problems. Like Doug says, take your time and go through each system thoroughly one at a time and eventually you will get to the point where you will have a 30-40 year old car that is as reliable as a 30-40 year old car can be. You may have noticed that I have not posted anything regarding this car for a while because there is nothing going on to post about. Having said that I will now keep my fingers crossed.
Presently, I am working on my 1984 XJ6 which I acquired with a bad powertrain. I have converted this one to a GM powertrain and its running at this time but not quite complete. Again, I went through the entire electrical system on this car and got everything working as they should.
Fortunately for me I can do all of the work for myself with the exception of exhaust work which is the only thing I have to pay for.
A CASE IN POINT:
I have a friend who owns a 1995 XJS and he has been 'robbed' many times over.
This year alone he has spent over $10,000 in repairs. He came by to complain because the blower motors in his car work intermittently and he was told $800.00 per motor plus $1500.00 to install. He told me that this diagnosis was done on his car in his presence and I asked him whether they dropped the scuttle on the drivers side and glove box to do the diagnostics and he said they did not. They opened his bonnet and did some work there. That's what you get when you don't know.

 

Oh yeah, there are robbers a plenty.


But, even with an honest tech, $'s can roll. His/her costs are not cheap.


Around here, shop space is at a premium equates to high rent. From simple digs to fancy, still lotsa bucks. Taxes, regulations, waste disposal. Utilities, salaries, insurance.... labor round here is $125.00 per hour. Pressure, oh yeah, every customer needs it like now....


Carl

 

I relented after hearing his sob story so I am going to do the diagnostics for him this coming Saturday. Hopefully, he doesn't need blower motors. I exercised the controls and it started to work then stopped again. More exercise and it started to work again and the saga continues.

 

Presumably you're still running it after all these years, so at least you've persisted despite some obvious torment.

IMHO these cars can be as reliable as anything else, but like most high end marques they are more sophisticated than most of their contemporaries thus requiring more attention to maintenance. BTW, I believe much of the folklore around shaky Jaguar electrics is exaggerated, problems mostly due to sheer age and lack of maintenance. As someone else has said, whether you're dealing with a 30 y/o Jaguar, Mercedes, or BMW (let's not even mention Italian cars!) similar experiences will be encountered. When aged they are high maintenance vehicles. But we buy them for all their intrinsic attributes, and their hobby value. Tinkering with them is part of the fun. To expect daily driver use from any of these old marques is a different ball game, yet many achieve it successfully enough.

With all due respect to the plethora of "ordinary" makes from the era, including the humble GM / Chrysler / Ford offerings, they consist of - very little. Rudimentary engines and few other moving parts, not a lot to go wrong.

To me the bottom line is simple: Nothing else rides like my My '83 Sovereign. She turns heads every time I'm on the road and proudly attracts admirers at car shows, yet she is worth only a few thousand at best. How many other makes can do that? Meanwhile, my infinitely reliable late model VW's are cleverly invisible to everyone.

 

I'm not exactly a novice when it comes to keeping old cars running. My first car was a 1978 Grand Marquis. In 1998, when it was 20 years old, I took it on a 600 mile round trip every single weekend, trying to attend college and still spend as much time with my dying grandpa who lived 300 miles away as I could. Electrical repairs - both when you have proper parts, and when you're on the side of the road trying to channel your inner MacGyver - I've done that. Changing out a fuel filter in the middle of BFE - done that. Laying on your back in the yard replacing a transmission with two scissor jacks and some ingenuity - done that. I've still got that car. A complete engine rebuild is in the near future.

Jaguars have a lot of features my old Mercury doesn't. Independent rear suspension, rear disc brakes (mounted on the differential of all places!) dual overhead cam engine, multiport fuel injection. It's a more sophisticated design, but is it really all that complicated? A Toyota Prius is complicated. A 1980's Jag? How complex can a 1980s fuel injection system be? Rear brakes only need to be touched once every decade or so, and all the rubber bushings in the suspension will last two decades. (Heck, my 40 year old Mercury is still running a lot of its original suspension components).

Like I said, I have a 2015 Mazda that needs oil changes and tire rotations to be happy, and I can get in, punch the button (it doesn't have an ignition key), and go.

I may not have owned a vintage Jaguar, but I've dealt with 40 year old clunkers enough to know what it takes to keep them running. So I'm not scared of a Series III XJ6. It'll work just fine as a weekend cruiser, and if I get one sorted out as well as Doug had his, why not take it on the occasional road trip? The XJ40's and, to a lesser extent the X300s are just a little too bland compared to the original XJ6.

I might not get this one. I haven't decided yet. But I do plan on buying a Series III (or a I or II if I find one in good enough condition for the right price).

If it does have a catastrophic failure 3 weeks after I buy it, the way my 2001 S-Type did, I have two other cars to get me by until I can get it put back together.

Seriously, part of why the Mazda is so boring is because I never get to do anything to it. Even if I took a Series III home tonight, I wouldn't feel like I really owned it until I put some wrenches to it. Replaced the brakes, or even just cleaned the window switches. Something - anything - a jaguar needs to have done to feel appreciated. It's not yours until you replace something on it!

 

It's late 70s technology. As F.I. system goes, it's pretty simple and surprisingly durable



Good! No reason to be. There's a learning curve but, on the plus side, there is terrific internet support on these old Jags.

Cheers
DD

 

You've got your head in the right place. You've got a reliable late model car to depend on, (that will remove tons of stress, worrying about how you'll make it to work). It seems like you've got the savvy and aptitude to learn the intricacies of your new Jag. Go for it brother! When I get my garage situation squared away I plan on looking for an oldie too. Best of luck.

 

+1

 

You suppose, some unorthodox doings afoot???


In about 1976, I bought a 51 ****** Jeep 4x4 pickup. Lumped with a
283 SBC. Wide base Chrysler Imperial wheels. Newly redone bench seats and "fresh" grey primer. Not bad, bad starter. Fixed that. Transfer case went bad. OK, place nearby that dealt in parts for those old trucks. Oh, oh this truck is a 56!!!! So....


messed with it a bit more, then succumbed to an upgrade to a 69 Toyota land Cruiser. Red with a sorta convertible white vinyl top.
Looked good, ran great. Built the engine twice....
Oiling issues. It's 6 banger almost, but not quite a copy of a Chevvy six.


Carl